


The Soulmarks

by AvatarQuake



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff, Soulmarks, Tumblr Prompt, based on a tumblr prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 04:41:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5991985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvatarQuake/pseuds/AvatarQuake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone in this world comes with at least four marks; your mark, your soulmate's and your parents'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The soulmarks are based off either the names or something characterisitc of the people.  
> Sister McKenna - sheep; she's a nun and obviously the only one Daisy liked  
> Matt Murdock - bat; well, echolocation  
> Micro - microchip; obvious  
> Cal Zabo - balding cat; bc 'calvus' means 'bald' and Cal makes me think of cats  
> Jiaying - flowers in a pot; possibly misinterpreted 'household flourishing'  
> Phil's mom - doe; bc she was a nurturing person and a nurse  
> Phil's dad - a book; history profesor  
> Miles - toy soldier; bc 'Miles' means soldier  
> Antoine Trip Triplett - lion cub; bc he's brave, ok?  
> Phil - a foal; in Greek 'Phillip' means friend of horse, litterally.  
> Daisy - a daisy; again obvious

Mary Sue Poots had always had four soulmarks; a foal over her heart (that implied her soulmate), a daisy on the inside of her right wrist (that the nuns said had to do with her name or identity) and a balding cat and flowers in a pot on her left wrist (that indicated something about her parents).

She saw marks appear and fade, never knowing what it meant – she wasn't going to ask if her daisy mark appeared on anyone and then faded – except for the bat on her left shoulder, her sort-of brother Matt, and the sheep of sister McKenna's.

~~~~

Phillip Coulson had a few soulmarks on him appear and partially fade out through the years. His parents', a book and a doe on the inside of his left wrist, still visible even after their deaths, a foal on his right wrist and a daisy on his heart, were the only clear ones on his body.

Lovers that followed saw their marks appear on parts of his body and then fade, as he saw his do the same.

~~~~

Skye learnt later that the marks meant that someone loved and cared about you. That the faded ones meant that they still do, even if you are apart and years have passed. Miles told her as his mark, a toy soldier, faded on her right knee. Somehow, it gave her mixed feelings; being connected to different people that she berely remembers anymore, when she tries so hard to erase any traces back to her.

~~~~

Phil wonders if his mark will now fade out completely from his soulmate, since he never got to meet them, as he draws his last breaths on the hellicarrier.

~~~~

Skye, on the fourth of March, 2012, woke up with searing pain on her heart, as her soulmark burnt and turned orange. She woke up in pain five days later, her foal burning, tinted with blue.

~~~~

Phil Coulson stares at his daisy mark on his heart and wonders if he should look for them, if they felt his near-death. His foal is blue and orange, and he supposes it's because he almost died.

~~~~

Skye hadn't had any new mark show up for a while, without counting the faded microchip on her right hand after meeting Micro, until she met Mike and saw her daisy peek out from his neck. She would protect him from the men in suits even if its the last thing she'd do.

~~~~

When Phil finally meets the woman behind the voice, he's excited. She's not what he expected. He has nothing on her and his heart suddenly feels warm and his foal itches for a second and secretly he wishes he had come alone. He wishes he had come alone so she'd know it was him. Because he knew it was her.

~~~~

Skye stopped mid-sentence and turned to look at the two agents at her door, her heart filling up with a strange warmth and her daisy mark itching. She wonders which one of the two is, feels drawn to the older one, for some reason, but expects it to be the younger, because she hasn't heard of soulmates with an age gap before. (Admittedly, she hasn't really looked.)

~~~~

He offers her a job on his Bus, in his team because he can see her fit here, do some good, because he can tell she has the potential to be even greater.

(A tiny part of him gives her the job because he wants to be near her, near his mark's warmth.)

~~~~

Skye is nearly sure her soulmark is Coulson's. He either doesn't realize it, or doesn't want to do anything about it. Anything beyond being a flirt and her best guy friend and boss.

She keeps finding herself checking him out in incovinient moments, feeling awful for Miles and not trusting him from the start – like she knew she could – or flirting over his car and past sex life and hiding in the back of the SUV together.

When he's taken, she gets this need to find him, get him back. She gets the sting of pain as he gets hurt. And then she's shot and she is dying and, _oh God, oh Phil_.

~~~~

Phil knew somethning was utterly wrong, that Skye was in danger. His soulmark was burning and urging him to find her quickly.

It was so hard holding her almost-dead body, blood covering his clothes, and his heart aching behind his daisy mark.

(And he knew, in that moment he hated himself for ever thinking if his soulmate had felt his death, because _oh God_ , Skye was in pain because of _him_ and _**how could he**_?)

He stays beside her as she heals, as the drug runs through her veins, in her bloodstream, one hand holding hers and the other pressed against his chest.

~~~~

(Skye feels the warmth spread out from her heart, her baby horse is with her, she's safe.)

When Skye wakes up, she sees Coulson, sleeping at the chair beside her, holding her hand and slumped over. She smiles softly and gives his hand a squeeze.

“Hey.” she said quietly.

“Mmm.” he mumbled in his sleep.

“Coulson.”

“Yes?” he asked sleepily.

“Doesn't your back hurt, AC?”

He moved his head to side and opened his eyes and she was smiling tiredly at him.

He smiled back, mind still muddled with sleep.

“Skye?” he asked in a tiny voice. His heart stopped for a second, fearing he was finally hallucinating and then he breathed out, relieved. “You're awake.” he said in awe, reaching out to touch her face.

Skye covered his hand with hers, leaning in his touch.

“Yeah.” she sighed. “I was sure I was a goner there for a moment.” she admitted.

Coulson rubbed his hand over his heart.

“AC?”

“I...”

At that moment Simmons entered and Coulson managed to slip out.

He could feel her eyes on his back as he walked.

For the first time since he woke at the hospital, Phil Coulson looked at his scar.

The scepter run him through his heart, back to chest, and now the scar had deformed his daisy mark while Skye's near-death and the GH-325 gave it a blue tint – matching now the foal on his wrist.

“Oh, Skye.” he sighed, resting his head against his mirror.

~~~~

Skye wonders if the soulmark lets you feel more than just the intense pain the other feels, because suddenly there's this guilty sense about her, whenever Coulson looks at her, like he feels guilty she got shot.

She tried to tell him to stop blaming himself, but he got such a sad look on his face, that she figured he needed some time to come to that conclusion himself.

(She did make he promise he understood that she was in no way, shape or form blaming him.)

The surprising thing that happened was Ward being suddenly more openly friendly.

~~~~

A lot of things happen later.

And in hindsight, Phil should have known the universe was out to get them, because the amount of secrets and things done accumulated on SHIELD should warrant it.

(He can remember Skye's joy in her eyes when he tells her she's made Level 1, but what floored him was the feelings coming off her, the intensity of them.)

~~~~

(He doesn't know, does he? That she can feel him in her heart, his admiration and that warmth she fears to put a name on.)

~~~~

(And then their world ends.)

~~~~

When the dust finally settles, Garrett dead and Ward in a cell, the team reunited at the Playground and everyone's too wired to sleep but in need to lick their wounds on their own, Skye goes to Coulson. She feels his agitation, his restlessness.

She finds him in a back storage room finishing up a carving that looks a lot like the one they did for Akela.

“Coulson?” she asks softly.

The man freezes and slowly turns, the knife falling with a clutter on the floor.

“Skye...” he started and then leaned on the wall behind him.

Skye rushes to his side, supports his weight.

“Let's get you to your bed. Then we'll deal with this in the morning.” she said.

“Skye...I...” he started, too tired.

“I got you, Phil.” she said softly.

He sighed and leaned closer to her.

“Stay.” he begged, as she helped him under the covers.

“OK.” she nodded and slid in beside him.

Phil reached for her hand and placed it over his heart.

“My soulmate mark is a daisy.” he says quietly, in the dark.

“Mine is a baby horse.”

“It's called a foal.” he said, almost indignant.

Skye sat up and looked down at his direction, pressing her right hand a little on his chest.

“You have my mark...” she said breathlessly.

“I thought you knew already. The bond was getting stronger, didn't you notice?”

“I noticed and I suspected, but I wasn't really sure.” she said.

“Stay?” he asked shyly.

“Oh. _Oh, Phil_. Yes.” she smiled brightly, lightly pressing her lips to his.

~~~~

When Phil woke up to Skye's boby wrapped around his, he wondered if he was still sleeping.

Then, the woman beside him stirred and nuzzled his neck and he sighed content, trying to bury himself in her.

“Is it morning already?” Skye asked.

“No. We can sleep a couple of hours more”

“Mmm. It's morning.” she smirked. “But I like it that you want to spend more time in bed with me.”

A knock on the door interupted them.

“Sir?” Koenig's voice sounded nervous. “We can't find Agent Skye. She didn't sleep in her bunk last night and she certainly wasn't with anyone else.”

Phil groaned and went to open the door.

“She slept with _some_ one.” he said.

“Tha-that's-that's against protocol!” Billy spluttered.

“Not anymore. And certainly not for soulmates.”

“Oh dear.” Billy mumbled. “That's...that's new.”

“Sir!” Trip came running down the hall. “Did you find Skye?”

“She's with me.”

“Oh, thank God.” Trip sighed relieved. “You two finally got together?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Phil nodded.

“Good.”

~~~~

The reveal went down well, better than Phil expected, if he was honest.

(Koenig's reaction was what he expected from most of them, to be honest.)

What else went well, was the rejection of the Levels system.

Since they were a shadow organisation with no funds and the badges being a red flag to all the law enforcement organisations, Coulson didn't see why they should keep up the levels.

The carvings, they kept them between them.

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Whose is this?” Phil asked her a couple of days later, noticing the lion cub on her right side of the chest.

“You got it, too.” she said placing her hand across it.

“Huh.” he looks down. “I hadn't noticed.”

“I think it's Trip's.” Skye said with a small frown of concentration. “Want me to ask?” she smirked.

Phil smirked back, pulling her down for a kiss.

While he had to do recruitment – and hide the Hellicarrier from everyone – Skye was left as the third agent in command, doing research on the markings.

“How's the Geek Squad coming along?” he asked, in between kisses.

“They're pretty good.”

“Nice.”

Skye snickered and pulled him back down to her.

~~~~

“Hey, girl.” Trip greeted her. “You still working on these?” he handed her a beer, sitting beside her in the Bus's commande center.

“Yeah. They're baffling.”

“Can I ask you something personal?”

“Sure.”

“Your...soulmark. What does it look like?”

“A daisy. Coulson's a foal, of all things.” she said, fondly.

“So it's you two.” he said with a grin. “I suppose you found my lion cub on you two?”

“I knew it was yours!” she said triumphantly.

Trip smiled up at her.

“How're things between you and the boss?”

“Spectacular.” she smiled brightly at him.

“Ah, here comes the man himself. Sir.”

“Trip. Skye.” he greeted.

“No, no, not on my account, don't be shy.” Trip smiled knowingly.

Skye rolled her eyes and pulled Phil in for a kiss.

“There you are. A happy couple's what I want to see.” Trip said. “You two,” he pointed from Skye to Coulson, “are my two favorite people. I absolutely love you.”

Skye let go of Phil and launched herself in Trip's arms. Phil came over and rested his hand on Trip's shoulder.

“And we love you.” he said.

~~~~

It seems like the world had an axe to grind with them after all. Things went south and fast once they started tracking the Obelisk. Her father appeared, Raina tried to blackmail them with Simmons's life and then the world stopped.

The Kree city, the temple, her and Raina changing and the earthquakes.

~~~~

He feels her panic mixing with his and he knows something has changed, his daisy mark is burning up again.

(He wants to hate the man that calls himself Skye's father, because he hurt her, made her feel his pain, but he can't; he's her _dad_.)

~~~~

She can feel his fear and his need to wrap his arms around her, she knows he can feel her need to be held right now.

They end up pressing their palms against the glass.

~~~~

Sif and Vin-Tak took the choice from them, forcing Skye to the Cage and Phil Coulson doesn't hate people easily, doesn't wish for the power to inflict pain on someone else, but this is Skye and he allows himself those small and rare fantasies of avenging her.

Skye sometimes looks at him as if she is amused by his existance and he wonders how much of his fantasies does she understand.

(Most of them are, actually, pretty domestic, mirrors of his memories of his parents.)

~~~~

The Retreat is nice-looking but Skye hates being away from Phil, hates this seperation.

(He hates the Retreat at the moment, too.)

She looks forward to his visit, to being able to be with Phil for some time, with no interuptions. But she can't help feeling it'd be longer than two days.

~~~~

He knew it, in his heart, things wouldn't be that easy.

SHIELD taken and Skye gone. And he felt her fear and then the blackness, like she was unconscious. He had to find her, if he wanted to get SHIELD back.

~~~~

She manages to get a handle on her powers and she learns more about her family than she expected.

She spends time with the guy that 'transitioned' her, Lincoln, but finds him a little bit...dull for someone who generates electrecity.

Jiaying, her mother, shows her how she can control her powers, the way to understanding them, that she could possibly belong _here_ , even partially, because her soulmate is still out there, feeling anxious and worried about her.

~~~~

They almost reached each other, almost hugged, he almost had her. They were staring at each other from across the hallway and then her and Cal were gone in a flash of blue light, Mike was taken and he had to follow plan C.

He would get back to his soulmate, even if that killed him, of that he was sure.

~~~~

She met up with him later, on the rescue mission,aboard the Bus.

~~~~

He wished they were alone, he wanted to wrap his arms around her and never let go, but they had a mission to do. So he put her in charge of one team and he was in charge of the other – a subtle message that she was his second. Her eyes told him she understood.

~~~~

Raina being a claivoyant was the Universe being funny, Skye supposed. There was definetely a missed chance for a joke there. There was a missed chance for many things, because as much as Skye hated Raina, for Mike and Ace and Phil, she didn't deserve that.

And watching her mother kill one of their own – she had somewhat accepted she was a part of this – everything from earlier today made so much horrible sense.

~~~~

He knows things are bad and are about to get worse. He semi-trusts Gonzalez wasn't the one to initiate this war, but he can't help wonder if he was insensitive towards Skye's mother and her fears.

The fight is going to be bad and get easily out of hand and Cal being here, means only one thing; he is on suicide mission.

~~~~

She can't believe her own mother would do that. OK, 'real' SHIELD are a bunch of xenophobic triger-happy bureaucrats, but that doesn't mean she should kill them or wipe SHIELD out. There are misguided people on the ship, but...

And being locked up, unable to do anything to stop them from killing each other eats at her.

So the relief she felt when Mack helped her? When he gave her the laptop to pass a message out, a message she knew Phil would know where it came from, filled her with peace.

Now she had to stop her mother.

~~~~

He does the only thing he can think of; catches the crystal. If it's his life in exchange for the others' then he wishes Skye will forgive him.

~~~~

She never wanted it to end like this, fighting for her life with her mother. She never wanted this tragedy, having her father kill her mother to protet her.

Her story was so much worse than what Phil had found, or was revealed later.

It started in bloodshed and ended in death.

And then her left hand paralyses and she cries out in pain.

“Daisy? What's wrong?” Cal, _dad_ , asks, worried, afraid.

“ _Phil..._ ” she mumbkes, standing up and cradling her hand.

They walk back inside, Cal still carrying Jiaying's lifeless body, trailing after her like a lost puppy, until she reaches the vents and he sets his wife down and rushes in the room.

“Make way!” he orders. “I'm a doctor.”

~~~~

He remembers hearing a voice and the numbling pain. He remembers hands, treating his left hand – or what was left of it – and hands on his chest, anchoring him.

There's a subtle warmth in his chest, but it's muddled by fear and worry and pain.

He thinks he passes out.

~~~~

Skye stays by his side, through operation and for the next four days he stays in the infirmary.

“I can't lose you, Phil. Please, be more careful with your life.” she said softly.

“I'm sorry I hurt you.” he mumbled.

“Dad knows.”

“I'm glad I was uncoscious. I don't think I'd survive that.” he smiled.

Skye smiles, her eyes a little watery.

“He took it pretty well, actually.”

“That's good.” he sighed, his eyelids dropping.

“Rest.” Skye told him.

He hummed in agreement.

~~~~

“I lost my parents's marks.” he said after they returned from seeing how Cal had settled in his new life.

“The doe and the book.” she said, tracing the cat and flowered pot. “I found a rose on my left thigh yesterday.” she said out of the blue.

“A rose?”

“I think it was...Raina's.” she said quietly. “The last thing she told me was that thorns existed to protect the rose, or the daisy in my case. Maybe, she cared somewhat.”

“Well, she had an intereting way of showing it.” Phil mumbled. “Still, I'd prefer her not dying.” he frowned.

“Mum was trying to protect us Inhumans.”

“I am not judging her, Skye. I could never. She went through horrors and survived. We shouldn't have come knocking at her door like that.”

“What are we gonna do now?”

“Enjoy a couple of days off. Then set you as my second and getting you started on your team. And maybe move in to my bunk?” he asked shyly.

“That's a good plan, Phil.” she smiled, pressing her lips to his for quick kiss.

“I missed you.” he sighed.

“I missed you, too.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And...that happened. There's a small chance to do a third chapter, but... *shruggs*

**Author's Note:**

> Based off this prompt http://avatarquake.tumblr.com/post/129793464549/eryuko-spookymileskane-au-where-everyone-is


End file.
